Premium offer for small businesses as Cobble Hill unveils The Shoppes
For small businesses desiring premium spaces in a cozy environment and accessible location, the new destination for such a facility is The Shoppes, an ultra modern shopping complex in Oniru, Lagos.
Strategically located on the busy Oniru Market Road, The Shoppes, a development by Cobble Hill Investment Company, is a modern lifestyle shopping centre aimed to cater to the shopping needs of Oniru, Lekki and environs.
“The idea of this development is to cater for small businesses that want premium facilities with the right amenities. Here we have toilets, decent design, clean environment, adequate parking for well over 30 cars, and others; we have office spaces at the third floor of this facility for small businesses like architectural firms, estate agency, law firms etc”, Ojie Imoloame, an Associate at Locus Real Estate, a division of Locus Promotions, told BusinessDay during a tour of the facility recently.
An added advantage for a prospective tenants here is the facility’s relative affordability which, Imoloame explained, did not consist in just the rent. “You should also look at your transportation and the location, especially when looking at the cost of business, and you know, in real estate, location is everything”, he stated.
Another advantage of taking up a space in The Shoppes is that, depending on the type of business, if a tenant is a law firm, for instance, there are potential clients such as shop owners who would like to do a lease agreement or agreement with their suppliers which means ready market for the firm.
A similar opportunity also exists for a small real estate agency which can get business from sitting tenants that want to buy or sell property. This leads to a symbiotic relationship among tenants because the estate agent can also do his shopping from the ‘in-house clients’.
Imoloame has strong confidence in the Nigerian economy, disclosing that the decision to develop this facility was premised on that confidence. “Nigeria is a trading economy and 60 percent of the trading or commerce happening in the country is taking place in Lagos. We are basically traders and it is high time government realized that trading is one of the things that grow the economy and it is always with small businesses”, he said.
This, perhaps, explains the level of interest already expressed in this facility which, he revealed, was started in April 2014 and with its completion, a couple of months ago, it is already 50 percent let.
“Now, we have tenants from Access Bank, a major eatery, Homely, a shop selling children’s wears and materials, among others. We knew from the onset that renting was not going to be a problem for us. It is just a matter of getting the right tenant-mix. So far, we have about 50 percent interest”, he enthused.
The company offers opportunities for buying and renting and anybody wanting to rent pays N1.3 million for a 20-square metre shop, about N60,000 for a square metre which, Imoloame said, was difficult to get elsewhere in Oniru or Victoria Island with the kind of facility they have at The Shoppes.
Depending on the type, location and size, shops are available for sale starting from N9 million for a 14-square metre shop on the second floor; N9.5 million on first floor and N9.9 million on ground floor. On the whole, there are 40 shop spaces categorized into types A-E, and 10 office spaces.
Imoloame assured all sitting and prospective tenants of round-the-clock security, saying, “we have corporate guards that monitor the building. We also have CCTV cameras within the building and there is a police station down the road; so, here, security is assured 24/7”.
CHUKA UROKO